G-2301-17696

The Medical University of South Carolina’s (MUSC) James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine (JBECDM) is the only dental education institution in the state of South Carolina. The institution has trained dental professionals to deliver comprehensive dental care for more than 50 years and its mission is to develop transformative leaders and oral health providers to improve wellness.

This proposal falls under Advancing Equity through Oral Health and describes a project meant to accomplish the following:

Engage and educate existing pre-dental and health professions’ advisors at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs);

Provide educational and skills training to prepare students for dental school application and admissions processes;

Expose students and advisors to the dental school environment

Increase the number of applications and admissions to medical school among partner HBCU students, including applications to MUSC; and

Improve collective understanding of barriers to application and admission to dental and medical academic institutions

As part of a collaborative-engaged approach, MUSC will partner with five HBCUs in South Carolina, including: Allen University, Benedict College, Claflin University, South Carolina State University, and Voorhees University. Using the American Dental Education Association’s Faculty Diversity Toolkit, the university will host training sessions with advisors as it relates to student academic preparation and pre-dental professional programs with community dentists. In addition to these training experiences and supports, this project will also engage South Carolina communities and their members as MUSC will work with local dentists and other interprofessional oral health providers to contextualize the content delivered as part of the educational and skills training sessions.

This work builds on previous efforts of the investigators and programs held at the JBECDM, specifically the Safety Net Dental Certificate Program and the Mentoring Is Navigating Together Strongly (MINTS) Program. The former is an 18-credit hour, online, curriculum that aims to deliver prerequisite clinical and interprofessional competencies, business acumen, and to enhance the willingness of dental students for rural safety net oral health practice. The MINTS Program aims to recruit state practitioners from underrepresented minority (URM) groups to be engaged as mentors to current dental students. The proposed scope of work will expand existing efforts and create an opportunity to develop oral health champions who can be engaged prior to the dental admissions process.

As many organizational partners and oral health advocates note increasing challenges related to the capacity of the oral health workforce, this project presents an opportunity for CareQuest Institute to explore support for educational pathways that promote a diverse oral health workforce. This request was originally submitted for $250,000 but was reduced following a conversation with MUSC. This grant makes up less than 1% of the organization’s overall budget and the grant funds will be used primarily for honorariums to be provided to HBCU faculty advisors at each of the participating schools. Remaining grant funds will support two investigator positions ($26,000), in-person training for advisors, conferences, as well as publication, travel, and equipment expenses.